India concerned about travel warnings issued by West

India: Indian government has expressed concern that travel warnings issued by five Western countries during the Diwali festival season might hit tourism of the country, reported local daily The Times of India Tuesday.

The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have issued advisories against travel to India during the lights festival season due to alleged terror threat.

Calling the travel advisories as “scaremongering”, Indian Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay was quoted as saying that he had taken up this with the external affairs ministry and asked it to persuade these countries to withdraw the travel advisories immediately.

The minister also raised the issue in France at a meeting of tourism ministers of G-20 countries on Monday, said the newspaper. Foreign tourist arrivals in India between January-August 2011 have seen a 10 percent growth, with 3.8 million tourists coming to India in this period compared to 3.4 million last year.

Last December, a bomb attack hit the northern Indian tourist attraction of Varanasi, injuring some people including foreign tourists. A triple bomb attack took place in downtown Mumbai in July, killing 19.

Xinhua